County moves forward with general URD advisory vote
An advisory vote to gauge public opinion of urban renewal districts will be on the May 19 primary ballot.
On Monday, the Kootenai County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously, after some debate, to include the following question on the ballot:
“Do you support the use of Urban Renewal Districts in Kootenai County, which effectively increases a portion of property taxes county wide? Project examples include East Post Falls, Center Point, Atlas Mill, and the Health Corridor.”
Voters will be able to select yes or no. County staff notes that advisory votes will not allow or deny the creation of any existing or proposed urban renewal districts.
Idaho statute gives the board of county commissioners the authority to place a question on the ballot on any issue before the citizens of that county during a primary or general election. The results of the advisory vote, by law, are non-binding.
“I think anything that results in taxation without representation, regardless of the amount, is wrong,” Commissioner Bill Brooks said. “That’s why I don’t like URDs at all. Period. End of subject. I have never met one I liked. And I never will. I would like them done away with, but that’s not something I have any control over at the county level.”
The initial draft phrased the question “which effectively increases the rate of property taxes.”
Commissioner Chris Fillios encouraged the board to change the word “rate” to “portion.”
“If you look at our budget for this year, our tax rate dropped from last year from $28 per $100,00 evaluation to $24,” Fillios said. “So that’s a decrease in the rate. I would rather say that it increases a portion of your county wide taxes. It’s more accurate, more general, but more appropriate.”
What Fillios was getting at is that the tax rate can decrease, even with added urban renewal districts.
Whether or not the commissioners could legally ask for an advisory vote on a specific urban renewal district remains unknown.
“There is a legal opinion that basically says that if we target a specific URD, we are pretty much stepping outside the spirit of the statute that allows us to put this on the ballot,” Fillios said.
“Having not seen the most updated legal opinion, all I can tell you is that is in contradiction to the chief elections officer in Kootenai County and the chief elections officer for the state of Idaho,” Kootenai County treasurer Steve Matheson said.
Matheson conducted a poll on the county’s Facebook page, including specific language. It read: “Do you support the health corridor urban renewal project, the adopted plan for which includes reallocating $46,300,000 of property taxes to “ignite CDA”?”
Of the 475 received votes, 86% were not in support of the hospital corridor urban renewal district, according to Nancy Jones, commissioner communications. Of the 302 responses that were cast in Idaho, 83% opposed the hospital corridor urban renewal district in Coeur d'Alene.
Jones fielded inquiries from concerned residents on Facebook about the function of urban renewal districts. She said the biggest misconception on URDs is the idea that the commissioners have decision-making authority when it comes to forming URDs. They cannot create or close urban renewal districts in the county.
“I think the education piece will be very important between now and the primary about the nature of an advisory vote,” Jones said.
The county will share more information about the advisory vote in the coming weeks. Staff can be reached at the BOCC office at 208-446-1600 or via email at kcbocc@kcgov.us.
